This article is Google translated from Linksunten Indymedia and lightly edited by Boston IMC volunteers. We apologize for any inaccuracies this process may have introduced.

I am a member and fighter of the Revolutionary Action Stuttgart from Germany and fight as part of the International Freedom Battalion in Rojava under the command of the MLKP, which is under the YPG. In the International Freedom Battalion fight several revolutionary organizations from different countries. For many years I have been part of the revolutionary left in Germany and was involved in many battles. An internationalist identity and a corresponding practice are for me as a communist political work to do. So we worked to Syria or Rojava since the beginning of the uprising against Assad. We have organized and supported demonstrations and events and dealt as well with the happenings in Rojava. All this was and is important to the process here and must be made public. People around the world need to know of the achievements of the revolution here.

I personally have not served much time. For me, it is right to be here in Rojava. I have increasingly felt the desire to go Rojava and to join the fight there on the spot. Even with plenty of opportunities in Germany to support the revolution in Rojava, I could no longer pursue a more or less normal life. People are dying in Rojava for the common struggle against imperialism and reaction, confirming me in my decision.

To Rojava

The social process that has developed here in Rojava in the last three years is very important worldwide for the revolutionary left. While in Europe a rightward shift has taken place and reactionary forces feed, a project will be built here in the midst of a civil war based on grass-roots democracy and mutual solidarity. People take their future into their own hands and organize social life in the management boards. Establishments are managed by workers in cooperatives. There are also collective decisions about what and how to produce. At the same time here the struggle against patriarchal oppression concretely enforces the emancipation of women: While quotas for women on supervisory boards are being discussed in Germany, it is here, of course, that every function of men and women is occupied. YPJ - the woman guerrilla - take women fully into account during the armed struggle and they can claim their rights. And while refugees and Muslims are hounded in Europe, all people who live here, regardless of their religion or ethnicity, are involved in the process. And all this despite Rojava being attacked by Islamists and surrounded by reactionary regimes such as Turkey, Iraq or the government of Assad.

Have no illusions that here socialism or the classless society are realized. But it will be put on the agenda, which is also central to socialist development issues: Democratic control over operations, the fight against patriarchy, against racism and against religious intolerance. Also the realization that the results of the revolution must be armed protection, without capitulating either to Assad or the imperialists, is very important.

So I think that here, although not yet decided which way Rojava will take society, but the conditions for a socialist development are very real and the first steps have already been taken!

By this project (which so many people support) we fight, especially the jihadists of the IS.

But we also fight against imperialism, because it is through the interference of the imperialists in the Middle East, and especially in the Syrian civil war, that groups such as IS or the Al-Nusra Front were in the first place so strong.

Also from Turkey as a NATO country, and NATO allies such as Saudi Arabia, the IS very directly supported with German weapons. It also affected by the fact that there currently are massive contradictions between the imperialists and the IS. Common to them is that they have no interest in self-government in Rojava.

Tasks of the Revolutionary Left

A few basic words on my understanding of internationalism:

The statement "the main enemy is at home" by Karl Liebknecht is right. It means for us as the German left that we have an obligation to build communist structures in our own country that are able to put in perspective the question of power. However, that does not mean that we must reduce our struggle only to the country where we live. If we see ourselves as oppressed as a class that is under attack by the world's rulers, then it is clear that we think as internationalists in a wider context and that we need to show solidarity with all progressive and revolutionary struggles. It is important to develop contacts with all who struggle against oppression.

Worldwide there are various battles of varying relevance to prevailing conditions. They are geared to respective specific situations, the historical conditions and objective possibilities. International solidarity was and is important and must always be translated into concrete practice.

An important example of this is the formation of the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War.

However, it can take very different forms:

In Germany, it is currently important to create a cohesive, internationalist consciousness in the population.

Given the weakness of the German left, our internationalism can not mean that everyone come to Rojava - even if that were desirable. Each and every one must decide and consider where he or she currently can be active in the sense of proletarian internationalism.

Finally, it should also be mentioned that the internationalists who support the revolution here and learn from it, gain experience, which will also benefit the fight in Germany.

I want to conclude by encouraging you to support the revolution in Rojava with all your means. The struggle for liberation against the oppression of man by man, for communism, is ongoing. It can only succeed if we join together in solidarity to look at the bigger picture and start today!

Long live international solidarity! For a revolutionary perspective! For communism!